Storm Angels
History During the time known as the Horus Heresy, the fifth legion, also known as the White Scars, defended Terra and the Imperial Palace against the traitor invasion. Led personally by their primarch, Jaghatai Khan, they used their tactic of lightning raids against the rebels to deadly effectiveness, stopping many of the enemy advances in their tracks. After Horus was slain by the Emperor in combat, it was the White Scars, with the help of the remaining Blood Angels and Imperial Fists, which routed the traitors from Terra. Shortly after the end of the Heresy, Roboute Guilliman wrote the Codex Astartes and commanded that all remaining legions be broken up into smaller chapters. Rogal Dorn of the Imperial Fists, supported by Leman Russ of the Space Wolves as well as Jaghatai Khan, railed against this declaration. The weakened Imperium teetered on the brink of a second civil war. Seeing that Roboute and his supporters would not relent, Rogal and the primarchs who backed him could foresee the empire they fought so hard to protect being engulfed in flames again, from which it would never again recover. Dorn finally gave in to spare the Imperium more bloodshed. In what was known as the Second Founding, Jaghatai broke the White Scars up into five separate chapters, leaving one to carry on the name and heraldry and four to forge their own paths across the stars. Shortly after this, near the end of the thirty-first millennium, the Third Founding took place. This was the Founding from which the Storm Angels were born. Commander Elaek Indriel, a Terran-born White Scar who served the legion faithfully even prior to being united with their primarch, was chosen by the Great Khan himself to build this new chapter. Having fought during the Great Crusade at the side of the Emperor himself, Indriel knew what was asked of the Astartes and modeled his new chapter after his own experience. As his new chapter’s homeworld, he chose the world of Coriolis, a beautiful and volatile planet the White Scars conquered during the Crusade. In M32, the 6’th Strike Company participated in the Adrusian Campaign against the self-proclaimed prophet Captain Haeglin of the Word Bearers Traitor Legion. It was during this operation that Lieutenant Kaen Joriel made an eternal oath to seek out and find any Astartes that have broken their vows of loyalty to the Emperor and slay them. He became the first of a long line of warriors known as the ‘Alastors of the Storm’. When fighting broke out across the Imperium in M36 in what is known as the Age of Apostasy, the Storm Angels found themselves across from the Angels of Truth Chapter, a Dark Angels successor chapter that had been swayed to Arch-heretic Goge Vandire’s side. Upon learning of their former brother’s treachery, the Storm Angels fell upon the the renegade’s homeworld of Kraetir IV with righteous vengeance. They spared none of the heretics and by the end of the Apostasy, the planet was a lifeless rock and the Angels of Truth had been completely exterminated. In M37, the Second, Third, and Seventh Strike Companies were sent to Surlox Prime when contact was lost with the forgeworld. Upon entering the system, no vox transmissions could be heard and there was no space traffic around the normally bustling planet. They made planetfall only to find themselves caught in a trap set by Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii forces who had declared themselves loyal to the Ruinous Powers as well as elements from the Night Lords Traitor Legion. Recovering quickly, the Storm Angels crashed into the Dark Mechanicus forces with untold fury. Even as severely outnumbered as they were, they fought on killing hordes of the heretics, but they were steadily losing the protracted conflict. When all seemed its darkest, the Legio Tigris arrived and deployed the entirety of its titan legion to the surface of the planet. With renewed vigor, the marine forces were aided by the titans and crushed the traitors to the man. After the battle, the Storm Angels and War Tigers each swore oaths of loyalty and friendship that have persisted strongly into the present day. Early in M39, a detachment of Storm Angels aboard the Strike Cruiser Eternal Fury aided a small Mechanicus outpost on the edge of the Forlorn Rend, a small area of space on the far edge of the galaxy in the Segmentum Obscurus where warpspace spills into the Material Realm. A previously undocumented xenos force had attacked the moon-based outpost and the Storm Angels repelled the attack, routing the aliens into the Rend, from which they did not return. As the marines pushed the xeno forces back into the anomaly, the Eternal Fury was itself crippled and pulled into the Rend and destroyed. In recognition for their loss and heroism, the lone remaining Arch-Magos gifted the Storm Angels with several STC templates that had not been seen by the Astartes. Near the end of M41, the planet Armageddon once again sent a plea for help across the Imperium, and the Storm Angels answered along with many other Astartes chapters. The greenskins had returned to the worn-torn planet in the biggest Ork Waaagh ever seen in the history of the Imperium. The Storm Angels were primarily utilized for boarding actions against ork fleet ships, destroying a great deal of their crafts and crippling many others. They also made an orbital drop against the orks attacking Hive Helsreach, routing many of the aliens. When Abaddon’s thirteenth Black Crusade assaulted the area surrounding the Eye of Terror, the Storm Angels fought his forces in many theaters of war. On Mordax Prime, they fought the orks until they were outnumbered a hundred to one, and still they made hit and run attacks against ork supply zones. When the order to overload the electrical grid on Saint Josman’s Hope was given, they were there to evacuate imperial citizens and hold the traitors on the planet, many of them giving their lives. When Abaddon’s fleet finally made it to Cadia itself, they stood firm with their brother-chapters and turned his forces back into the warp. Many Storm Angels were lost, but their sacrifices will live forever. Homeworld Located in the Segmentum Tempestus, the homeworld of the Storm Angels is the planet of Coriolis. A nominally temperate world, it’s inhabitants live in moderately sized hab-cities. These cities are each self-sufficient with their own hydroponics and life-support generators, as well as the exterior of them is five foot thick reinforced rockcrete. This is due to the devastating storms that sweep across the world roughly every three years. These storms include heavy lightning storms and hoverbike sized hail that can tear massive chunks from a hab’s surface, as well as torrential rain that can even submerge entire hab-cities in the lower valleys for months at a time. Despite this, Coriolis is a flourishing planet. Its major export is simply water, of which there is an abundance of. It is frozen, cut, packed, and distributed to various systems within the Imperium that are in need, in particular are areas of continued military strife where fresh water is difficult to come by. The planet also maintains a planetary defense force. The Master of the Storm decreed that able bodied men and women be allowed to serve as nominal protectors of Coriolis and any other planets the Storm Angels minister over while they are at war. These forces are designated as part of the Storm Angel Chapter and are vassals to the chapter itself. Geneseed The gene-seed of the Storm Angels is perfect in every way, save one. Their gene-seed appears to have trouble adapting within the bodies of psykers, leaving the chapter with very few Librarians. Psychic candidates that are implanted with the gene-seed have an ninety-three point six percent chance of rejecting the gene-seed during its final phases, resulting in a very quick, but very painful death as their bodies twist and mutate until they finally burst. Those psyker candidates whose bodies are able to accept the gene-seed are often times the peak of marine fitness, being faster and hardier than their brother marines. One benefit that comes with the adapted gene-seed is that all of the chapter’s librarians seem to gain the ability to send and receive telepathic messages, resulting in faster communication between the various forces of the chapter. One interesting quirk with the Storm Angels is that if left in the field for extended periods of time, the marines seem to devolve back into a more primitive state and display many more barbaric traits, similar to that of the White Scars or Space Wolves. Head-taking and trophy poles are not uncommon to be seen attached to their armor, a sharp contrast to the normally polished look of the chapter. While not frowned upon by the chapter itself, it does tend to draw questions from other Imperial elements. C'ombat Doctrine Storm Angels prefer to get to grips with their enemy in hand to hand combat. The most common weapons they use are bolt pistols and chainswords, allowing the sheer ferocity of the marine physique to be used to its potential. When attacking something such as a planetary target, the Storm Angels prefer launch a swift drop pod assault which usually cripples whatever they target. Such an attack is preceded by a Covert Ops team scouting the target and coordinating with the fleet craft for the assault. Should a more sustained combat be required, thunderhawk transporters bring down the chapter’s tanks and an armored spearhead crashes into enemy lines, crushing whatever defenders stand against them. The Storm Angels also specialize in rapid ship-to-ship combat, launching over to enemy vessels in boarding torpedoes after terminator kill-teams teleport in and eliminate defensive gun emplacements and other heavily defended objectives. Organization The Storm Angels chapter is divided up into ten companies of one hundred marines, as prescribed by the Codex Astartes. This is where the similarities end. Each of these companies is further divided into three detachments of three squads, with each detachment being led by a lieutenant. The leadership role for each company is a captain. In many cases, the position is held by a librarian of the chapter known as an Epistolary-Captain. Should the position be held by a non-psyker, he is given the title of Lord-Captain. In some very rare occurrences, a company may even have two captains who share the responsibilities of leading their company. Each company is able to operate as an independent fighting unit, as each one is self-contained and its captain answerable only to the Lord-Commander of the chapter. They maintain their own vehicles and train their own recruits. The First Company is divided up into the various other companies, forming command sections and specialized units. Its designation is merely to retain tradition, as it is almost never called to be fielded as the entire First Company and the last known offensive which required this was the ''Battle for the Cadian Gate in 999M41. Unlike most other chapters, upon being inducted into the chapter’s First Company, the marine is either trained in the hallowed Terminator armor or specializes in covert ops. Terminator units are used in boarding actions or to break enemy emplacements, where their thick armor can weather heavy fire that would normally shred lighter armored troops. Covert Ops units act behind enemy lines disrupting supplies, eliminating key objectives where a larger force would be inaccessible, seek and destroy missions, and setting up forward observation posts ahead of the main Storm Angel force. The second through tenth companies are designated as Strike companies and are flexible enough to be utilized as Assault, Tactical, Devastator, or Battle companies at any given time. There is no Scout company, since all of the chapter’s recruits are integrated directly into the various other companies and are trained by the battle-brothers themselves. This makes for much more battle hardened troops as they are issued power-armor from the start and thrown into the thick of combat. Those designated as scouts are battle-brothers who have proven themselves to be efficient in covert operations and each company has a unit or two of these squads assigned to it. Each company also maintains its own stock of vehicles and weaponry. Within the chapter’s motor pool is contained a vast array of Land Raiders and many variants thereof. This was caused by having to adapt to the terrible living conditions on Coriolis, where the vicious lightning storms and jeep-sized hail can easily destroy more lightly armored vehicles such as Rhinos and Predators. Even the lighter vehicles are outfitted with extra plating and grounding rods to ensure they are protected. Each company captain is honored with a Land Raider Prometheus command tank upon taking their Oath of Leadership, and when close assault is not an option, the chapter employs the Land Raider Helios variant. The chapter is also home to several rare variations of Land Raiders, namely the ‘Sabertooth’ and ‘Dragon’ variants. The details of these are closely guarded and tit is believed they were designed using the STC templates they were gifted. The Storm Fists have also been blessed with quite a few Dreadnoughts. They are maintained meticulously by the chapter’s techmarines and are outfitted with all manner of armaments, from assault and plasma cannons to more exotic weapons such as inferno cannons and force blades. The Dreadnoughts are deployed as part of the First Company, being split up among the various other companies. Beliefs When Indriel formed the Storm Angels Chapter, he instilled some core beliefs in them. The primary being that while the Emperor is not a god, he is the Father of all Mankind and the Astartes are his favored children. They are tasked with watching over and protecting the weaker humans, not unlike angels do in various ancient religions. Unlike many other chapters who have little to do with their charges, the Storm Angels are encouraged to visit the populaces of the worlds they protect and intermingle with the people. The reasoning for this is two-fold. First it is a great morale boost for the planetary populations to physically know they are being watched over by Adeptus Astartes. Second, knowing they are being watched, those planets are some of the most loyal planets within the Imperium for fear of their guardians will turn their ever-watchful eyes to them. Although having children is impossible, some have even been known take wives. It can be difficult though, as the marines are inevitably sent to various warzones and it could be years or decades before they return, if they even return at all. This does not inhibit the marines in their fighting prowess, in fact it gives them more of a tangible reason to fight even more ferociously against the foes of the Imperium. They also do not have prayers and services for the most mundane tasks, such as calibrating a bolter or appeasing a machine spirit. Such things, the Storm Angels say, detract from the true calling of a marine’s duty. They do, however, celebrate several feasts and holidays special to their Chapter, their parent Legion, and the Imperium itself the most prominent being the Feast of the Great Khan. These ideals can sometimes bring them into confrontation with the Ecclesiarchy, who believe that all Imperial citizens need to worship the Emperor as a god. While the Storm Angels agree this is a necessary evil for many worlds within the Imperium, they do not see it as needed for their own people. Battle Cry Coming soon Notable Personalities '''Chapter Master Ulric Sariel is old even by marine standards. One of the most powerful Librarians in the chapter’s history, he has led them for the last six hundred and thirty-two years and doesn’t seem to show any signs of slowing down. Some believe this may be in part to his extraordinary psychic abilities. Whatever the reason, it is said that he is able to glimpse possible outcomes of upcoming confrontations first-hand, allowing him to make tactical decisions that other leaders could not even begin to understand. The Second Company is currently led by Lieutenant Commander Garin Alexi. While not one of the chapter’s Librarians, Alexi is a cunning and resourceful commander in his own right. Wearing his ancient suit of Terminator armor, he leads his troops into battle from the forefront. It was his decision to stay the execution of Canoness Freylan during the Angellis Crusade, and it is he who detests the Blood Angels the most for their actions during that campaign. A veteran of hundreds of battles', Chaplain Vilhelm Korzia' looks after the spiritual well being of the Second Company. In battle, he is known to enter trancelike states as he charges headlong at the enemy, waking only when there is no one left to fight and often covered in gore. When not in combat, he leads the company in their daily rituals and masses. The current bearer of the Sword of Truth is Cort Pernious. During his first battle as an Alastor of the Storm, at the defense of Vordar VII against a Chaos Incursion, a squad of his battle-brothers had been ambushed by a Hellbrute. Cort charged headlong at the beast and decapitated it with several mighty cross-strikes. Since then, he has slain countless enemy leaders in single combat. Notable Equipment The Cobalt Tempest – Super heavy command tank found in the mid-35th millennium on Golgak Secundus and was most likely built during the Dark Age of Technology. It was restored by the chapter’s techmarines and fitted with the latest weaponry and void shields. Its primary function is to serve as a mobile command center and provide transport for an entire detachment of marines as well as assisting with long-range artillery support. '''Predator Vanquisher – '''Predator that mounts a Vanquisher Cannon in its turret. '''Land Raider Sabertooth – '''Land Raider with two sponson mounted twin-linked plasma cannons and a hull-mounted twin-linked heavy bolter. Category:Space Marine Chapters